Strike Back
by InkMarked
Summary: After waking up in the maze, Thomas does not know what to do. Where are the others? What happened? Why is he back there? Watch the story unfold in a totally different direction.
1. Chapter 1

Thomas woke up to the sound of… to no sound actually. There was silence. Only silence. He opened his eyes and he saw green. Grass. He was lying on the ground and the place was barely lit. It was almost night time. Wherever he was, the sunset must be taking over the sky by now. He looked up. The walls of the maze surrounded him. What had happened? Was he still on the maze? It didn't take long for the dots to start connecting in his head. Night time + Maze = danger. Everything else seemed non important at the moment. He put himself up and started running somewhere. He needed to get back to the glade before the walls closed. He could wonder about what happened later on. If he only knew which direction was the glade located. Taking one road could be as valid as any other, but he needed to get there somehow if he didn't want to die. Or at least that's what he thought would happen. Where were the others anyway? How come he was alone in the maze? It was disconcerting, and eerie. He started running the first road he saw. Probably out of fear, probably out of desperation. But also probably out of knowing it was his best bet so far. He couldn't just stand there doing nothing. Apparently he would die anyway.

By the third road he turned towards he was giving up. Was he supposed to think things through? What was there to think? He was alone in the maze at sunset, and he already knew what would happen at seven. His only option was to try and find the glade before that time. Thinking through or giving up was not an option. He already had some answers. He started running again.

He turned left next, but accidentally bumped with somebody. He ricocheted to the ground, and felt on his back. A blond tall figure was standing in front of him. He had calculative eyes, and something in them expressed he wasn't in the mood of being nice. It was Newt. Probably as worried and disconcerted as Thomas was.

"Watch it greenie!" he scolded him. "I don't want you running like that towards grievers if they actually appear at some point"

All the questions Thomas had somehow collided with each other in his mouth, as they all tried to get out at the same time "Do you know what –? Grievers -? Where are the others? The glade? –" was all he managed to say before Newt cut him off.

"There is no glade greenie" he said sourly. "I already looked everywhere" that last part was almost a whisper. A tired one.

"The others?" Thomas asked. But Newt kept silent, as pondering whether to answer or not. "Come on" he finally said. "I don't know where they are. I don't know much more about what is happening than you do"

"Which is _nothing_" Thomas added.

"Yeah." He said "Which is _nothing_"


	2. Chapter 2 more than one truth

Its hard to know struggle until you face it. However, it is somehow not hard to recognize it once you feel it again. Newt and Thomas did recognize it. It hung int the air. Struggle and fear make a deadly combination. Especially if their friend, uncertainty, goes along hand in hand with them. Were the grievers going to make an appearance tonight? There was not clue or answer to that. The most unsettling, however, was _knowing _that there would not be a clue. Rather, it was just logical for them to have to find out the hard way. That's how they have found out about everything in the past anyway. Why would this be the exception. But really. None of them wanted to find the hard way about grievers.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Thomas asked. "I just woke up around 10 minutes before I found you. I was apparently sleeping on the ground."

Newt laugh "Not the first time we wake up in this place without remembering anything he grenney?" he said sarcastically, but Thomas didn't think it was funny. That's when Newt's face got serious, and darkness took over his eyes. "I was never asleep. I was just walking" he confessed.

"What?" Thomas didn't understand.

"I didn't wake up. I just returned to my senses. All this time, I was walking along one of the roads of the maze, and suddenly I could not remember when did I even start" he said. "If you think waking up was unsettling, you should try to imagine how unsettling would it be not to remember when did you loose memory" he said. "At least you have a starting point".

"How back can you go on your memory?" Thomas asked. He was genuinely curious, and worried.

"Not much. Its just as you. It goes only for 45 minutes before I found you." He said. "I told you there was no glade when I saw you. I was still looking for it a third time before you bumped into me."

"That's not what I meant with my question. I asked how back can you go on your memory, but I wasn't talking about your immediate memory. You do remember who I am, don't you? You do remember we got out of this maze once. Do you remember the scorch?"

"What scorch?" Newt asked, and Thomas felt his world crumbling down. Giving in to the desperation that awaited for him just outside his efforts to be brave. _What scorch?_

Newt must have read him, because his eyes got a little more worried, and he tried to undo the harm by saying he did remember the maze. He did remember getting out of it, and he did remember Chuck being stabbed by Gally at the end of the tunnel.

"Do you remember the people? Wicked? And how some 'rebels' rescued us from them? Do you remember how we thought we would be safe?"

Newt's eyes were cautions, and focused on Thomas. "I do remember the rebels, I do remember driving away from Wicked with them" he said. Relief flooded Thomas.

"And do you remember the following day? Having cranks on the windows? and the seeing the 'rebels' hanged from the ceiling? Dead." Newt shivered at the word 'crank', something in him recognized it. But the sudden darkness that took over his eyes disappeared in the next two seconds. He continued to listen intently to Thomas. As if his life depended on it. "Do you remember finding Aris instead of Theresa? Or going for two or three days without food? Before Ratman appeared with further instructions for us?" Thomas asked.

Newt was silent, and holding back information. As if de didn't want to break it to Thomas. "Who is Theresa?" he asked. Thomas blinked. Incredulous.

"THERESA! SHE HAS BLACK WAVY HAIR! BLUE EYES! APPREADED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE MAZE! UNCONSCIOUS! KNEW MY NAME!" Thomas exploded. Newt just looked at him and chook his head, as if Thomas was wrong. "That was Aris. It has been Aris the whole time" he said.

"Unconscious? In the maze's elevator? Aris? Really?" Thomas said sarcastically. He was laughing by now. A desperate laugh.

"Oh he hasn't unconscious." Newt assured. "He was just another grennie"

"And the telepathy? I have always been able to communicate with Theresa that way. Are you going to tell me I communicated with Aris all this time through the maze?" Thomas continued.

"No. You never had telepathy." Newt said. "That was Minho who taught us"

Now Thomas laughed. This was ridiculous. "Newt, stop messing with me -"

_I'm not._

Tomas heard Newt's voice clear in his head, and jumped after he heard it. He looked up, grasping the entirety of the situation. Understanding Newt wasn't lying. Understanding one of them was bound to be wrong, and the other one was bound to cope with it. He understood it could be either of them who had the wrong memories. _What if it was both? _Thomas pushed that thought away the second it came to his mind. It couldn't be.

_Oh, but it can._ That was Newt again. Telepathically speaking with him. He had heard him. Newt looked even more worried now. Worried and aware. He was suddenly paying attention to every inch of their surroundings. _Lets find the others. _He thought.

"Stop that!" Thomas yelled.

"I'm sorry" Newt apologized. "Sometimes its easier to let others hear your thoughts than actually speaking them. I guess, I'll give you the courtesy of saying them out loud."

"Would appreciate it" Thomas said drily. Telepathy was reserved for Theresa. He didn't like to communicate with anybody else like that. They got up and started walking; in any direction, really. Anywhere that could bring them towards the others. As they walked Thomas eyed Newt with suspicion. He didn't like how he said it. How he said 'its easier to let other hear your thoughts than actually speaking them.' How he sounded like he got experience on the matter. How it made his story seem real.

They walked in silence for a while, until Thomas had to ask it. "You said there wasn't a glade. How do you know? How do you just haven't found it?" Newt smiled, as if he was talking to a little kid. In some ways, Thomas _was_ a little kid in comparison to Newt. He was two years older than him. Plus, a year and a half in the maze makes you grow fast. On the other hand, Thomas had just spent there a week or so. "Look around you grennie" Newt said. "Do you really think this is the same bugging maze we were put on the first time around?" Thomas looked around. It did look the same, but he didn't say it. "Well it isn't" Newt. "It's smaller. A lot smaller, and we have a forest to our left."

_A forest?_

"Yes grennie, a forest" Newt answered out loud. "Look, if I'm giving you the courtesy not to speak into your head, please don't go doing it to me"

"Sorry"

Newt was right. Sometimes thoughts just slipped through, and it was easier to let them be than trying to stop them. It was easier to share them as thoughts than as words.

"Anyway," Newt continued "Yes, there is a forest. And I know there is no glade because I ran this place three times before I found you" he said.

_You _–"You ran it three times!" Thomas was perplex.

"Yes, three times" Newt confirmed. Silence felt between them; until Thomas armed the courage to ask two new questions. "So what are you thinking? Did you see any trace of the others?"

"No, but I'm counting on the fact that they have feet. If they were walking, it would not be weird for us to have missed each other" he said flatly, but with hope in his voice. Thomas also wanted to believe that, and sided with Newt's train of thought. "And about the place?" Thomas pondered on this. It cound not be that small "What are you thinking?"

Newts face darkened. _I'm thinking_ _that if there are going to be any grievers tonight, they won't have any trouble finding us._ Newt eyed Thomas after thinking this. "Lets just make point of keeping on the move for the rest of the night"

"Agreed" Thomas said.


	3. Chapter 3 Nightmare Material

"What if we go towards the forest?" Thomas asked

"Figured it would be the first place grievers would go towards. In case you didn't notice, I'm trying to avoid them"

"Its still better than standing on plain site. In the forest we might actually have some place to hide"

"You can find a place to hide just fine in here. Have you seen how many walls does this maze have? It might actually be harder in the forest. Plus, I don't want to find anything funny there. Let alone at night. I'm staying in the safety of the maze, thank you."

_If you can call this safety_

"What was that?" Newt asked annoyed.

"Nothing"

They roamed around the maze for what seemed like two hours – there was no clock. Enough time to go from one extreme to the other, and they could not find any trace of the other. It didn't seem they were making any progress.

"They may be hiding in the forest" Thomas suggested. Newt was quiet; pondering over this.

"We'll go there in the morning. I'm not going there at night"

Thomas shrugged. This was, apparently, as far as he would get.

Silence felt between them.

"So, do we camp? Or try to sleep?" He asked

"Would be nice" Newt said. "I'll be on the look out for a while. I'll wake you up later so you can keep watch"

"Fair enough"

Thomas laid on the ground. It was solid, and uncomfortable, but what else could they do? Not many other options at hand. You could see the stars at night. They were embracing, but you could not hear any crickets. No matter how hard you tried to listen.

"I don't remember the scorch – but I know it happened" Newt said after some minutes of silence. It almost seemed as if it had been hard for him to admit it. Thomas sat up, relieved. "Really? So at least our stories do coincide at some point later one"

Newt looked at him darkly. _I hope not._

Thomas blinked, confused. "What do you mean 'I hope not'?"

"I don't want our stories to be the same one. If yours is different, it gives me hope that mine may be false" Newt confessed.

After hesitating, Thomas dared to ask it._ What is the last thing you really remember?_ The one question he wouldn't ask using words.

Newt looked at him. The darkness in his eyes was present. It was a side of him he kept for himself. He looked so lost and so sad, and somehow, Thomas knew there was nothing he could do about it.

_The last thing I remember is you shooting me in the forehead with a gun; because I asked you to. _

Thomas blinked hard; taking it in; speechless.

_You were a crank _

Newt swallowed hard, but managed to smile with sarcasm. _So our stories do coincide there, uh? _The hurt was visible in his eyes.

Thomas looked up at him. He didn't say anything. He didn't think anything. There was nothing to say. But in the bottom of his mind, the inevitable words came out. _Yes, they do_

_Thought they would,_ was Newt's answer. "If there is something I have learned with wicked is that, if you have any memory that is nightmare material, then its probably real."

Thomas laughed at this, and then felt bad for doing so. "How is it that you are here though?"

"No idea" He said. "And for the moment, I'm good with not knowing"

"Fair enough"

_Do you think the others will remember as much as we do? Do you think they may have different stories from ours?_ Thomas asked; too intrigued.

_Count on it. Count on both. _


	4. Chapter 4 a traitor and a friend

Chapter 4: The traitor and the friend

Thomas had no way of knowing what time it was, but if he could have guessed , he would say it was around 2:00 am when Newt woke him. He was whispering his name with a worried voice as he chook him awake. A weird and disgusting sound hung in the air, but it was not long until he recognized it. Grievers. Thomas jumped, scared; but Newt held him down. Just a look made him freeze. This was serious.

Thomas listened more carefully. The griever sounds were faint and almost inconsistent. "Is it hurt?" he asked.

_I think so. It sounds like its heading left. _

_Should we go Forest?_

_Yeah, Forest_

They both stood up and starting walking away from the noises – to the right. It wasn't long until they saw the trees extending in the distance. Next and Thomas exchanged a concerned look, but continue to walk rapidly through the shadows. Watching over their shoulders. There was a cold thickness to the air around them; as if either of them could die any second, but they had chosen to think against it. Denial was sweet.

The tree line extended over their heads. Spreading and over them and covering them with their long shadows. It was unsettling at first, but once you trusted yourself into the darkness around you, it was easier to be brave. Neither Thomas nor Newt made a sound while they walked. It made Thomas worry that Newt might not be around any more. That's when he heard him again. _Lets stop here._

Telepathy did come in handy in moments like this, when making one noise would probably mean that it was your last.

The sun eventually came out, and when Thomas opened his eyes, he could not remember when had he fallen asleep. Funny enough, he could remember everything else; especially the fear that had overtaken him the night before.

Newt was still asleep. A couple of yards form where Thomas was laying. Up ahead, there was a lake. It was long, and its transparent waters covered a thousand small round rocks that had been polished by time, and their friction against each other. On the other side of the river there was a slimy figure, it was very large, and ugly looking. As a huge mass of… a huge mass of…. Just a huge mass. No words to describe it. It was a dead griever.

Thomas stood up, confused, and walked towards the river to take a closer look, but still cautious.

_It won't come out a live_ He heard her say in his head. _It is as dead as it can be_

The sight of her voice made him jump and fall oh his back in an embarrassing way. Teresa? How in the world was it possible?

_Where are you?_ Was all he could manage to think. He was worried if he said the words out loud she would not be able to hear him, They had communicated long distance through telepathy before, how could he be sure this was not the case for it.

_Right behind you, you dumb ass. _

Thomas blinked and turned around. There, close to where Newt was still sleeping stood Teresa. With her pale skin and blue eyes. A blue not even the ocean could dream to attain; because it was the color of the sky when it had no clouds to cover it. Her dark curly hair fell on both side of her faces, and her trademark knowing smile extended to her eyes. That mature look that med Thomas think she knew something more than he didn't.

The second he saw here, the image of her being crushed at the end of the their battle against ratman invaded his head. How she had died. But now, she was there. In front of him. Laughing.

"You know. It is not just your thoughts that I can read. I don't like you thinking of me dying" she said

"Sorry"

"No worries. I am here to make you a deal"

Thoams looked up, waiting for her to talk. "I'm listening" Really? I'm listening? Where they there to talk business? The only thing Thomas wanted at the moemtn was to run at her and embrace her. But the ghost of the past hung in the air, and held him is position. Telling him to be cautious.


	5. Chapter 5 Wicked is good

Chapter 5: Wicked is good

Teresa smiled. "That griever was never alive" she said calmly.

"and?"

"The sounds you heard at night were fake"

Thomas blinked, confused. When Teresa understood there was not getting and answer out of him, she continued. "They were recordings. All programmed to take you here. I needed to find you, and there was no better way to do it than making you come to me, instead of doing it the other way around." Thomas raised an eyebrow in a mocking way. Really?

"My deal is simple" Teresa continued " but I need you to promise you won't jump to an answer right a way. You need to put more of a careful through into this, and really consider it."

"I don't make promises I can't follow" Thomas said.

"Then don't promise it. Just make sure you do it"

Thomas smiled sarcastically. Wasn't it the same thing?

Teresa gave a tired sight. "You are as stubborn as I remember you."

"Is that a compliment?"

"It's a warning"

This was ridiculous. "Am I supposed to be afraid of you?" Thomas asked, almost laughing. Although he knew he could have good reasons to fear Teresa if he looked for them.

"Well, yeah. You are supposed to be afraid of my friends. So, sure, be afraid of me too. I'm part of the package anyway."

That was a unexpected. Where there more people involved that he didn't know about? "Your friends?" He asked cautiously.

Teresa didn't answer. She jumped straight to the proposal. "Wicked is good Thomas. The sooner you realize it, the better. We want you in"

"DON'T! Talk to me about Wicked" Thomas said while loosing his temper. He yelled the first half of the sentence, but regaining his composure by the end of it.

"Why wouldn't I? Not talk to Wicked to the person who helped start it? Are you serious? You were so into it before they erased your memory"

"Do you know about my past?"

"Oh Tommy." Teresa said looking down at him while shaking her head. As if he was just a confused child who needed guidance. "I know absolutely everything."


	6. Chapter 6: Dilema

Chapter 6: Dilema

Teresa's words hung in the air. It took Thomas a few seconds to react. "Uh, yeah? Well, guess you didn't know you would be dead for me from now on. I apparently don't know you Teresa, and this girl I see here is no one I would like to be allies with." Teresa winced at his words. He had to admit he was harsh on her. However, Wicked was not good. If Teresa wanted to go their side, she could do it. But she would do it alone. It was time to break ties.

Teresa was clearly hurt. She shook her head from side to side, as if she was disappointed in him. Disappointed on a lost case that was only the shadow of what it had once been. "You once stood so tall Thomas" she commented quietly; keeping her dignity. "But now you are no better than the cranks: Never making sense"

Thomas raised his eyebrows and stared at her in a judging way. Then he turned around, and started walking towards the lake behind him. He gave her his back as a statement, as he got away from her.

"If you ever – for once – choose to make the right decision. Reach out to me" She said loudly, as if her voice was not ought to be ignored."

Thomas laughed sarcastically "how _exactly_ should I be reaching out to you, genius?. I don't really have a phone I can call you to. Oh wait! Just realized I don't have a phone myself!" he mocked.

_Don't be an idiot, you know how._ Her voice was clear in his head, but he did not winced at it. He would not show any weakness towards her.

_I will always be here. Just reach out to the corner of your head where you know I will listen, and I will respond. _She held her gaze strong as she thought those words into Thomas. Some sweet words that stung him because nothing would ever be the same between them. Because Thomas wanted to be with Teresa, but there was no way he would allow himself to look at her the same again after they have chosen such different paths. He let the words hang on his head for a few seconds, and then left them to die. Let go of them. Let go of Teresa. He was not taking her in this time. She was a stranger.

Newt's perfect timing was almost funny. So casually he woke up, and sat up on the ground. A confused look on his face, and his hair a mess. "Hey – WHAT THE-" he jumped at the sight of Teresa and stood up immediately.

Teresa pierced him with her eyes, and then laughed. "you never do your part, Newt, do you?"

"I was going to tell him!" He defended himself.

"_WAS_ is not good enough!"

"Tell me what?" Thomas demanded

"Your little friend here works with me for WICKED. He was supposed to ease you down into it before I came here to talk to you. Maybe _this _will give a heavier reason to listen to me?"

"You work for Wicked?" Thomas asked Newt incredulous. "What the heck was all that you told me in the maze? About not remembering anything in your immediate memory – about the last thing you remembered being me shooting you in the head?"

"They were all true Thomas. WICKED doesn't exactly give me information about what's going on"

"Then why do you work for them?"

"What else is there?"

That's when Thomas got it. Newt never learned about the right wing. He didn't know there were alternatives.

"I want to know Thomas. I want to know what is going on around here. I want to work towards creating a cure for a decease that killed me. I know what it is to have an annoying tick on your head that makes you loose your temper and go crazy, and I don't wish that on anyone. Working with Wicked is the only shot I really get to work towards that"

Newt was speaking, but Thomas wasn't listening. He got stock on his words when he said 'I want to work towards creating a cure for a decease that killed me." Newt was supposed to be dead, and just the thought of it scared him. Then he looked at Teresa and relieved the image of her death in his head. How was this possible?

"I already told you" Teresa said. He had forgotten she could read her thoughts. "If you want to know more about Wicked –" she said, _then reach out to me. _She finished her sentence in his head, and then smiled. Her trademark knowing smile. With that, she started walking away.

"Where are you going?!" Thomas asked.

"Exiting the maze, of course. You don't expect me to stay here do you?"

"How are you going to exit it?"

"The only way to do so is through Wicked. But since you so stubbornly refuse to do so, then I guess you will have to stay here until you starve. Say hello to the grievers for me"

"There is no grievers, you just said the noise was fake"

"I said last night's noise was fake. We can send grievers to this maze anytime we want to"

"But you wouldn't because you want me alive" Thomas tried to play his cards right as he spoke.

"We would like to have you alive, but if you are not willing to cooperate then you are really of no value for us. You are strong candidate for finishing the cure Thomas. But you are not the only one. Don't think you are that special"


End file.
